ABSTRACT
International history is replete with those moments when bricks and mortar of an international political order, weakened by the steady escalation of pent up pressure crumble under the onslaught of a fiery storm. Without doubt, the events of 9/11 and the resulting ‘war on terror’ as well as the Iraq war should be seen as historical landmarks ushering in a new and distinctive form of global governance. If 9/11 and the ‘war on terror’ represent the fiery storm, then the crumbling walls of brick and mortar symbolize the post-World War II framework of international liberalism – that distinctive constitutional order which guided the post-war international system. This constitutional order pertains to fundamental principles such as the formal political equality of all states. This principle of formal equality reflects an ongoing process of broadening the membership of the international community, notions of collective security embodied in the UN Charter, and above all, the increasingly widening definition given to notions such as ‘war’ and ‘self-defence’, all of which have greatly diminished widely accepted notions of international law. True, these principles were more often than not observed in the breach – and in some cases were deeply imperfect – but nonetheless they provided the founding motifs of the post-war system of governance.
